


Snow Falls

by RainyDayBatsy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Rumbelle Secret Santa 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 07:25:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4426547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainyDayBatsy/pseuds/RainyDayBatsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle gets trapped in the snow and the only place she can think of to go is Gold’s cabin in the woods. Will he show her kindness?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow Falls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Emospritelet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emospritelet/gifts).



> Just realized I never posted this from the 2014 Rumbelle Secret Santa, so I'm rectifying it. My first time writing smut.

“Shit.” Belle conceded defeat. The snow had officially trapped her car and she was out of luck. She was a little north of nowhere. Most people had migrated to populated areas since the snow was coming along with the holidays. She made a quick stock of the items available to her: a half-dead cell phone with no signal, her camera, a suitcase full of mostly dirty clothes. This did not bode exceptionally well for the stranded woman, but while she was willing to acknowledge the snow’s win with her car, she refused to keep her from getting warm. Belle was lucky though. There was a town miser who fled from the cities and cheer and Belle was fairly sure she was somewhat close.

 

She gathered her belongings and began trudging through the four inches of snow that was still falling. She had been to the man’s cabin a few times. Photography didn’t always pay the bills and he had a past ankle injury that made cleaning a bit painful. Sometimes she would knock on his door and offer to do some odd jobs. He could somehow always think of something for her to do. He was never a happy man, but to her, he was at least always civil. Around town he didn’t have the best reputation. People called him greedy, devious, and cruel. Belle knew he could be. She had heard enough stories from the citizens of the town attempting work with him to know that if he thought he could get something better, he would. In Belle’s eyes, this didn’t make him a bad man though. Determined, yes. Ruthless, if need be, but bad, not quite.

Belle’s nose was red and her gray coat was dotted with snow by the time she saw the cabin nestled amongst the woods. The warm, orange glow from the windows and steady stream of smoke from the chimney warmed her mind. She was tired from trying to free her car and the journey to the cabin. All she wanted was a warm meal and to curl up by the fire. The steps to the door happened in a second and soon she was knocking, praying that he would continue to find some way to help her.

“Mr. Gold.” Belle’s heart jumped as the door opened, revealing her potential savior.

“Miss French?” The older man’s brogue tripped over her name as he recognized the snow-covered brunette. “What are you doing here?”

“I was taking some pictures of the woods and this beautiful frozen lake and my car got stuck on the way back to town. You’re the only one I thought might be around here so close to the holidays. I was hoping you would let me warm-up and maybe wait out the snow?” Belle suddenly found herself worried that he would turn her out or laugh in her face, possibly with a cruel joke at her expense.

“I wasn’t quite expecting company. That’s sort of the point of a secluded cabin. To get away from people.” Gold raked his eyes over her tiny frame artificially inflated by her coat and winter accoutrement. “I suppose it would be worse if you died of hypothermia on my doorstep. Come in but leave your boots and winter things in the hall so you don’t track it through the house.”

Belle’s face lit up as he stepped aside to let her enter the cabin. She had never been there in winter. He would ask her to clean it once in the spring, only for it to stand empty and dark for six months, and once again in fall to clear any cobwebs and dust. There was such beauty seeing the dark wood contrasted with the bright snow and the warm glow of the fire glinted off the polished wood in such a merry way. Soft light poured from underneath dark lampshades. Overall the cabin had a very cozy feel about it. Belle stripped off her boots, coat, and scarf, leaving her in a long red sweater dress, black tights, and black wool socks.

Belle finally noticed the man the house belonged to. In town he was always dressed impeccably; three-piece suits and ties were what he was most often caught in. Here, however, in his secluded cabin, he seemed more at ease. His suits had been traded for a simple white button down shirt and ash-gray slacks. His ever present cane tapped down the hallway to the kitchen. “I suppose you’re hungry too?” Gold’s voice came roughly as Belle padded her way down the hallway. She worked her way to the living room. Gold was a man who had good taste and every item in his shop, home, and cabin spoke to that. The living room had a plush couch that felt like sitting on a cloud. A matching chair and ottoman was slightly off to one side and a wonderful dark stone table centered the blaring fire. 

“If it isn’t of huge inconvenience, that would be nice.” Belle curled herself into a ball on his couch. Her body was tired and already a bit sore, but she couldn’t deny that she was starving.

“I can manage a sandwich.” His response was gruff and it was obvious he had taken offense.

“I didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t. Just that I would be grateful if you would.” It was obvious where Belle was from when she spoke, but when she was irritated or angry her Australian accent became all the more thick. “You don’t have to take everything as an insult.”

“And you can just say, thank you, and eat the sandwich.” Gold shoved the plate at her and took the armchair to her left.

Belle dug into the food with vigor. She instantly felt a surge of energy and relaxed into the sofa. She was warm; she was eating; she was, at that moment, content. After devouring her sandwich, Belle slipped into sleep staring at the dancing fire.

**

Gold looked at the girl on his couch. Her eyes had finally closed and she had relaxed into a peaceful sleep. He couldn’t deny she was beautiful. She had robin blue eyes, hair that shimmered like silk in the firelight, skin porcelain and fair. The cold and snow had rosied her cheeks and nose. She looked lovely and young and he was a dirty old man watching her sleep.

He hired her to do odd jobs between photography bookings, partially because she was bold enough to ask for them, partially because she was actually a good conversationalist who didn’t quake at his every snap, and partially because she was so beautiful and good. He could hardly deny her work when he was lame and could use the help.                                            

Before she woke up and saw him staring at her, he decided it would be better to leave her by the fire. He found a blanket to cover her with and laid her head on a spare pillow, taking a second to caress her cheek and move a stray curl from her face. He left Belle to her dreams and found himself swallowing countless fingers of brandy before passing out in his room with a sweet Australian voice whispering to him in his dreams.

**

Belle woke up confused and discombobulated. She saw an unfamiliar ceiling and strange scenery from the window. She finally recognized Gold’s cabin, but she didn’t remember the blanket covering her or the pillow beneath her. She looked around for her host but didn’t find him. Stretching, she left the couch and pulled on her coat. Gold was sitting outside on his back porch. Belle leaned against the wooden railing and focused her gaze at the man sitting with his ankle up. He had yet to acknowledge her existence and seemed insistent on staring past her into the frigid woods. “Thank you for letting me stay here.” Belle ventured.

“I could hardly let you die on my doorstep. I don’t want to waste the time an investigation would take.” His eyes flicked to hers before flitting back on some tree in the distance.

“You still didn’t have to do it.” They settled into another uneasy silence. Belle continued her investigation of her reluctant savior. His hair had the slightest bit of gray and was longer than most men his age. She had known him for some time and he always seemed to have a worried face, but here, away from the town and his shop, he looked a little more at peace. No one could deny that he had a prominent nose; it looked like it might have been broken once or twice before. It fit his face though, neither swallowing nor disappearing into it.

“You don’t have to stare.” His eyes flashed again toward her. “There’s food in the kitchen for breakfast and a kettle of tea on the stove.”

The obvious dismissal struck Belle. “Thanks. I’ll just eat and head back to my car. I’m sure I can get it out of the snow now.” 

“No. We probably got another inch or so overnight. There’s no point in you trying, failing, and then walking back here.”

“Are you sure? I won’t be in your way?” she had not been looking forward to trying to dig around in the snow to get her car loose, so she was glad for the offer, but it seemed so much like he wanted her gone.

“If you ask me again, I’ll make you leave.”

“Thank you.” Belle left the man to his pondering. She cooked a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage. She made two hot toddies with the tea and some brandy Belle found in a cabinet and brought the drinks and her food out to the porch to join Gold on his back porch. Gold quietly accepted and they sat there in a gentle silence.

**

“Have you ever seen any of my photographs?” Later in the day Belle and Gold were once again sitting in his living room.

“Not that I remember.”

“Would you like to?” Belle had such an easy smile. People rarely smiled when dealing with Gold, but she always seemed to greet him with a smile and kindness in her sparkling blue eyes.

“If you wish.” He was admittedly interested. Everyone knew they could take their pet or child to Belle for a very lovely portrait or she would come to the woods for engagement photos, but she only showed a handful of people the photos she took for herself.

Belle bounced to her camera bag and came back with her portfolio, which she eagerly laid on the coffee table in front of Gold. She watched with hopeful eyes as Gold flipped through the pages. He had to admit she had a gift. She knew how best to capture the light, whether they were the sickening shots of couples in love or the more personal shots of the flora and fauna around Storybrooke. The final shot was dark, but as he looked closer, the luminous subject was Belle. Bare and shot in her apartment, the subject and photographer was seated on a stool with her back facing the camera. Her chestnut hair was curled and swept softly to the side. Her face cheated toward the camera and her eyes downcast. Before Gold could stop himself, his hand reached to touch the encompassing plastic and followed the flow of her spine. It was one of the most wondrous images he had ever seen. “You have quite the eye. It’s a shame you don’t have more artistic shots and fewer baby announcements.”

“Oh I’d love to be able to just shoot what I want, but bills need to be paid and no one in Storybrooke buys photography for the artistry of it. I’d love to eventually make a book, although I’m not sure what the topic would be.” Belle had moved to stand beside him and his eyes lingered on that last photograph before he closed her book and returned it to her.

“Can I ask you a question?” Belle gently rested her hand on his arm and he would have answered any and every question she had in that moment.

“Y-yes, I don’t guess I can stop you.” Gold could have closed the distance between them in seconds and tasted her soft pink lips, but he knew the anger and hate in her eyes would have killed him and she would be gone from him in seconds.

“Why do you always find something for me to do? You’re the only person who will always find something I can help with or some little job for me to do. You’ve saved me more times than you can know.” Her voice was soft and earnest and he was terrified.

“You know I’m lame. There are things that I just can’t do.” He couldn’t look into those eyes anymore. They would be the death of him.

“But you have the money. You could hire someone anytime to help you out around the shop or to clean your house. Why do you wait until I come and ask?”

“Belle, you can’t ask me. Please don’t ask me.” He was pleading with her not to take him to a place of honesty and vulnerability. It was a place he was very uncomfortable with.

“Please, just tell me.”

She broke him. In that instant, he was ready to surrender his whole self to the small brunette beauty in front of him. “I can’t stand to see you in need. You are capable of brightening even my dark corners. You are too lovely to want for anything. I can’t deny you anything.”

Belle made the first move. She stopped his confession within an instant and he knew bliss. Her kiss was heaven and he was happy to be dead. Moments later his senses returned and he knew that this was wrong. He was wrong. “Belle, stop. We don’t have to do this. You are welcome for any help I can bestow, but I don’t want your obligation.”

“I’m a grown woman, capable of making my own decisions and right now my decision is you. If you truly don’t want this to happen, tell me and I’ll stop and we can wait out the snow in silence. If you do want this, I’m in and that’s all I can say. I’m in.” Belle stepped back, waiting in anticipation for his answer. Gold kept his face blank, but she saw the anxiety in his eyes flitting back and forth to her and the table in front of him. She was prepared to admit defeat for the second time in as many days when his hand reached out for her wrist, encircling it and making her all the more his.

She carefully straddled him in the chair, putting no weight on him just yet and kissed him once again. She tasted remnants of his toddy and became drunk on his smell, a mixture of  pine, roses, and something she couldn’t name. The closest word was electricity. Kissing Gold felt at once, familiar, and more foreign than she could name. She grasped his face like it was her oxygen and he responded gripping her sides like she would float away if he dared to let this creature leave. 

Belle broke the kiss first. She started unbuttoning each button on that infuriating shirt. Lathing each new square of exposed skin with kisses. Once she had finished her task, she stepped back and removed each piece of clothing slowly and under watchful eyes until she was left in a cobalt blue satin bra and matching lace boy short underwear. Gold could not tear his eyes away from the beauty in front of him. He limped over to her and his hands followed a similar path as earlier, but this time felt the heat and curve of her flesh instead of the confining plastic from the photo. “Can we go to the bedroom?”

“Of course.” He led her down a separate hallway and into a room she had never been in before. Gold had always been private about his bedrooms and eventually she stopped asking if there was any work she needed to do in there. Green silk sheets covered his bed, a richly carved four poster piece of mahogany. She climbed a top the bed and beckoned him to her. He limped toward her and stopped just short of the bed. She reached over and slid his pants and underwear down his legs. Belle laid him back against the bed and straddled him once more. She loved the feel of his chest under her hands. She could feel his breath quickening as she leaned down to kiss his neck.

Pulling back she finally rid herself of her bra, letting it fall to the side and join his pants. He caressed the newly free skin, first with his hands and following with his tongue. She arched in response to such talented attention. “Gold, please.”

That was all the guidance he needed. He deftly swapped their positions and slid down her body, removing her last article of clothing with his teeth. They were each laid bare before the other. Belle, who’d always admired his stiff, buttoned-up look around town, found her attraction peaked with his slim frame and taut muscles, years of using a cane had left him with strong and sculpted arms. Belle locked eyes with him and she felt the beauty that he saw in her.

Gold continued his ministrations on her skin, nipping and licking his way back to her mouth. He lined himself up with her and began slowly working his way inside her. Belle began meeting his movement, bringing her hips to meet his. She let her eyes fall closed and focused on the delicious feelings he was giving her. He trailed his hand down her stomach and found her clit. He slowly circled it as he continued gently filling her. Belle felt on the precipice and reached up to gently stroke his hair, bringing it to rest against his prickly cheek. They found each others’ eyes again and Belle fell, bringing Gold with her. As she lay enjoying the aftershocks and the feel of their limbs tangled together, she quietly thanked god for snowstorms and secluded cabins.


End file.
